Here We Go Again... sort of

To my dear blogging friends,

Apparently this 3rd heart stent is not working either. I am on (more) medicine to stabilize the angina, and scheduled for another heart cath in a little over a week. At that time, a surgeon will be standing by, and bypass is extremely likely. They say I may be a candidate for some kind of bypass surgery that does not require "cracking my chest open," and I am somewhat hopeful that will be the case. But I am content to leave it in God's capable Hands. I say with Paul, "Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am." (Philippians 4:11)
I rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ, Whom I serve.
I'll visit your blogs when I can!

My Husband's New Blog

For those who have been interested in my husband's blog, which used to be called Neo Enunciator, he has changed the name. The link is the same as before, but the name is The Word is Truth. I am linking it here if you'd like to check it out. He has a new article up, and intends to keep up with it a bit better this time. It looks a lot nicer, too. He also has links on the side that might interest you. Feel free to stop over there and say hello. You can say I sent you!

Highly Recommended Article

There is an article here that I think some of you would really like. It is called "The Healing of a Nation," and it is written by my husband. Let me know what you think.

Childhood Songs Like "The Cannibal King"

Steviewren was talking about all the songs we used to learn as children and wondering whether anyone still taught them to the new generation of children. That got me thinking about the songs I loved (and learned from) when I was young.

Songs are such a wonderful way to teach things, all kinds of things. I was taught the books of the Bible with a song, and I still sing it when I am looking for chapter and verse. I learned scripture to song, like 1 John 7 & 8, and I learned Bible stories too. Teaching phonics to my youngest son was so easy once I found "Sing, Spell, Read and Write" by Sue Dickson. I can't recommend it highly enough, even if you only use it to teach the sounds of the letters to your child. My older sons loved the Rappin Rabbit's Safety Habits tape, and learned ways to handle scary situations.

But some songs are just for fun. Did anyone else sing "Kookaburra" or the one about the "little green frog, doing what he oughter"? My sister always liked the Prune song ("No matter how young a prune may be, they're always full of wrinkles..."). Two of my favorites were
"The Cannibal King" and "The Crocodile Song." For your amusement, the lyrics are below. Now,Steviewren, what's this about the Abba Dabba Monkey?


The Cannibal King
With the Brass Nose Ring
Fell in love with the dusky da-a-ame
And every night
By the pale moonlight
Across the lake he ca-a-ame
He hugged and kissed
His pretty little Miss
By the shade of the bamboo tre-e-ee
And every night
By the pale moonlight
It sounded like this to me-e-ee
Harrumph, (smooch, smooch)*
Harrumph, (smooch, smooch)
Harrumph Diddily I E A A A**
Harrumph, (smooch, smooch)
Harrumph, (smooch, smooch)
Harrumph Diddily I E A
Bump Diddily A A
(SMOOCH, SMOOCH)

*make smoochy, kissing noises
** pronounce each letter separately

The second song is called "The Crocodile Song"


One fine summer day
A lady sailed away
On the back of a crocodile
"You see," said she, "he's as tame as tame can be,
I'll ride him down the Nile."
The croc winked his eye
As she bade them all goodbye
Wearing a happy smile
By the end of the ride
The lady was inside
And the smile on the crocodile!

What songs do you remember?

The Gift Has Already Been Given!

Everyone is aware that this year is a little tight financially for many people. It's got people to thinking about Christmas, gift giving and what's really important. I think this is a good thing. Everyone loves gifts, of course; most people love giving nice ones as well. But is this really what makes people love Christmas so much? I don't think so.

There are a lot of things we do at Christmas time. Giving gifts is one thing. Singing carols, baking cookies, making candy, and visiting family are some more.  Also, decorating and shopping and going to parties and feasting together. But these are still not what we love about Christmas. These are things we do to celebrate what we love; tokens we give each other to celebrate what was given to us.

Because the Gift has already been given! Christmas, as Linus tells it so famously in A Charlie Brown Christmas, and as the Bible even more famously proclaims, is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ our Lord. "And the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which shall be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, Who is Christ the Lord.' " (Luke 2:10,11).  He already came; He already walked among us, brought us Hope, and then died for our sins and rose again! Everything that gives us so much joy in the celebration of Christmas ever since that Holy Night is because of Him; the general happiness, giving spirits and soft hearts we feel at this time of year especially. Of course, some people will point out that we don't know for sure that Jesus was born on December 25th. It is true that we don't know the day He was born. But we do know that He was born, and this is why we celebrate. 

Gifts are an integral part of the celebration of Christmas. God gave us the greatest Gift of all time, One that brought peace on earth and to men's hearts. The Wise Men brought gifts to the Christ Child. And we give gifts to one another in honor of His birth; we give ourselves to Him also.  So for Christians, what is really important? The cost of the gift we give? The amount of people we give gifts to? The gifts we receive? Or the fact that we are remembering the Gift God gave us in the form of His Son, Jesus Christ; the fact that we offer ourselves back to Him Who made us in the first place? "For God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." (John 3:16).

This year is a great opportunity to remember what it is you are really celebrating at Christmas time. It is easy to get caught up in everything you think you have to do and not even enjoy Christmas anymore. But it doesn't have to be that way. God already gave us everything we need to celebrate. A Baby in a manger. Peace in our hearts. Hope for eternity. The Gift has already been given. What more could we possibly need?

Five Words, Five Insights

The lovely Beverly at Dancing With the Daffodils shared a meme where she had gotten five words from someone else, then wrote what they made her think of, thereby revealing something of herself to us. She invited me to play, and sent me my five words. I have expounded on them below. Enjoy! (And if this is something you'd like to try, let me know and I'll come up with five words for you to write about!)

Moment - It has been my experience that life can change in a moment. When things are good, I savor them thoroughly, because I know they might change. When things are bad, I don't despair because I know they will not stay bad.

I have also been learning to live in the moment. I have struggled in the past with thinking of all the things I should be doing with the result that no matter what I was doing at the time, I thought I should be doing something else. I never felt accomplished or satisfied because there was so much more to do. My husband has worked hard at teaching me to enjoy the process. When I am working on something, I am trying to give myself permission to concentrate on it, focus so that I can do a good job, enjoy the process and take a moment or two to bask in the satisfaction of a job done well. I get at least as much done as I did before, and probably more because it takes a lot of time to stress and worry!

The best moment is still to come! "Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. (1 Corinthians 15:51, 52)

Finish - When I am finished with my life, I want my Savior to be able to say "Well done, good and faithful servant." I have a problem with finishing things, though. I'm much better at beginning. I begin a story, a diet, an exercise program, a garden - but too often I'm on to the next beginning, before I finish the preceding one. I guess learning to live in the moment will help with that.

Sound - I have discovered that I am very sensitive to sound. People's voices either soothe or grate. I don't make judgments about people because of their appearance. But I've been known to do it because of their voices. My boys used to complain because my ears are so sensitive they felt like they got in trouble just for talking. I felt like they were re-enacting WWII in my living room. Luckily that's what they make "outside," where boys should be, for! (Having said that, though, I really love the sound of my sons' voices). My ears physically hurt if sound is too loud. I speak very softly. I get in trouble all the time because people can't hear me. When I try to talk loudly, or I get mad and yell, it hurts my throat. My favorite sound is my husband's voice.

Carry - I loved carrying my babies. I mean after they were born, carrying them in my arms. I didn't want to use a baby carrier. I wanted to be the baby carrier. I did use a snugglie so they'd be right there even when I needed to be hands-free. When I had two babies a year apart, I would carry one on each hip to balance them out, or one on my back and one on my front. I loved the feel of them, little living bean bags, warm, fragrant, cuddly bundles of love.

Fact - I am not an overly emotional person. Not most of the time anyway. I'm pretty pragmatic and just kind of deal with what is, rather than moaning about how I wish it was. There are blessings to be found in just about everything, if I look for them. So I like facts. That's why I'm a Christian. When I look at the facts they all point to the word of God being True, just like Jesus says it is. Truth and fact are not exactly the same thing, but something can't be true and not be a fact. Now granted sometimes it doesn't seem that way. It can be a very hard truth, counter-intuitive or hard to understand. People say that's where faith comes in and they are right, but not for the reasons a lot of people think. It isn't that you have to have faith because something isn't true, but because it is and you can't see it. It is pointless to have faith in something that isn't true, and that's a fact! "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Evidence, not just wishes. I have studied the Bible all my life and I've verified enough of it as fact that I can confidently have faith that the parts I don't understand are true.

The Gift Has Already Been Given

Christmas a little hectic this year?

Take a deep, prayerful breath and a moment to remember what it's all about...
A Blessed and Merry Christmas to you!

Hymns of Special Meaning

Ruth asked me to post five hymns that have meant something significant in my life, and I really tried to follow the rules. I went through the hymn book and I was strict with myself. "Only the really important ones," I told myself firmly. I ended up with a list of 43. This wasn't going to be easy! Back to the drawing board. I thought hard about what was really important to me, why hymns touch me so much.

I realized that for me, it is all about a relationship with the Triune God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). There is a song called "Happiness Is the Lord" that has the line, "Real joy is mine, no matter if teardrops start, I've found the secret, it's Jesus in my heart," that kind of sums up my religious philosophy. I know a lot of people are Christians because they want to go to heaven some day, but I gotta tell you, even if we just lived and died here with no hope of anything after that, I would still be a Christian. When I was a child, I discovered that Jesus loves me and and I made a choice to put my hand in His. My life hasn't always been easy, far from it at times; but it HAS always been joyful! I believe what God says in His Word, because Jesus is the Word, and I trust Him completely; plus He sent the Comforter to help me understand it.

Hymns have always helped me remember the gospel, exhorted me to live it, given me a way to praise Him, comforted me when I was scared, and given me HOPE! I have narrowed it down to 12 choices, and I'm afraid that's the best I can do! I will not attempt to put the words to the hymns here, but I have linked to the lyrics.

"Jesus Loves Me" was the first song I learned as a tiny Christian. It gave me the gospel in a nutshell, and taught me to trust Jesus and believe the Bible.

I learned "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" first at church, then to a different tune at church camp. It was very comforting to know I had a Friend I could depend on, that was always there for me even when others had let me down badly.

"Trust and Obey"and "Count Your Blessings" are songs that taught me how to live as a Christian, and shaped my reaction to things that happened in my life. The only thing that puzzled me is the part in "Trust and Obey" where it says "I will walk by His side in the way." I always wondered if I shouldn't get out of the way!

My mother called "Heaven Came Down and Glory Filled My Soul" my song. She'd play it for me on the piano, my sister would sing harmony, and it is the one song I would belt out confidently!

"He Lives" resonates with me because my heart is so full of the love and presence of Jesus in my life and heart. He is a very real Person to me, Friend and Savior.

"Love Lifted Me" is all about salvation, and though I felt the presence of God from a very young age, I still made a conscious choice to accept Him in to my heart. I was very aware of how lost I was without Him, and trusted Him completely to save me.

Once I was saved, I loved the praise songs, such as "Praise Him! Praise Him!" and "He Keeps Me Singing." Great is His Name and Greatly to be praised!

We had an amazing piano player in our church, a lady by the name of Alice Mayhew. A beautiful, godly woman, and a professional piano player that could make you feel like you were already in heaven! I loved when she played "Wonderful Grace of Jesus," and then everyone would begin singing, and it was so rolling and majestic, the men and women singing different parts that gave it a richness that made me feel like my heart was going to come out of my chest and float up to heaven on its own!

"It Is Well With My Soul" is a beautiful song that always makes me cry, and that's before I had even heard the story behind it! It is a sad, beautiful, soul-stirring story of the trust a bereaved father had in his Lord and Savior even after his children had been drowned while coming by ship to join him. The story is here.

"Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee," besides being stunningly beautiful all on its own, also has a great deal of meaning to me, because this is one of the early songs my youngest son learned to play on the piano, and it's one we share a fondness for.

You can click on the names of the hymns to go to a page with lyrics and/or tunes. I pray God has richly blessed the writers of the hymns that give testimony, admonition, guidance, hope and praise to His Holy Name! They have been a rich source of blessings, teachings and strength to me in my Christian walk. And now I hope they will be a blessing to you!

Good Tidings of Great Joy!

And behold, an Angel of the Lord stood near them, and the brightness of God shone around them, and they were struck with a great fear. And the Angel said to them: "Do not be afraid. For, behold, I proclaim to you a great joy, which will be for all the people. For today a Saviour has been born for you in the city of David: he is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find the infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger."

And suddenly there was with the Angel a multitude of the celestial army, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will." (Luke)

A Blessed Christmas to all of you! (The angels were made by our sons many years ago, and I still put them out every year.)

President-Elect Obama

"First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, in order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." 1 Timothy 2:1-3

"Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore he who resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God, and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same; for it is a minister of God to you, for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath upon the one who practices evil. Wherefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience' sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants, of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor." Romans 13:1-7

The election is over and our new President has been chosen. He's not the gentleman I wanted because of deep fundamental differences that are of concern to me. But there was a huge voter turnout, 83.6% in our county alone, and I respect the results, the position, and the man. President-Elect Obama has earned my support, both by the majority vote and also by his own very inspiring acceptance speech. He has a calm demeanor that I think will be reassuring in these hard times. John McCain's concession speech was also extraordinarily gracious, giving me hope that he will continue to do the good work he has traditionally done in the Senate. Both he and President-Elect Obama set a tone of civility and respect for others that will be very refreshing if it catches on in Washington.

President-Elect Obama has a great deal to contend with and will need our sincere prayers for his safety, guidance and wisdom, as well as our patience as he learns how to lead such a diverse yet united country. For the next four years, as far as I can without disobeying God, President-Elect Obama has my support.

Don't Worry - Here's Why!

"For this reason I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, as to what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor for your body, as to what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?

And which of you by being anxious can add a single cubit to his life's span?

And why are you anxious about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory did not clothe himself like one of these. But if God so arrays the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more do so for you, O men of little faith? Do not be anxious then, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'With what shall we clothe ourselves?' For all these things the Gentiles eagerly seek; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

But seek first His kingdom, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Matthew6:26-34 (New American Standard)

Death, Where Is Your Victory?

"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His godly ones." (Psalms 116:15). I've been thinking about death a lot lately. Now that may sound morbid and not in keeping with the verse on my masthead, but hear me out and maybe you'll change your mind. I've observed a lot of people lately who knew their lives on this earth were severely numbered, and I've been impressed with the grace which we they lived their final days. None of them had a death wish. On the contrary, they had full lives with families they loved and wanted to stay with. But they also had faith, and that made all the difference. One man, Scott, used his final months to teach joyous Bible studies on heaven. When told how courageous he was, he disagreed. He was, he said, just semi-literate. He could read - he read the Bible and he chose to believe it. I thought about that a lot. I think he's right. When a fireman runs in to a burning building, or a soldier goes in to a war zone, that's courage. But if you told your child to get in the car and after a long, hot, tiring car ride he would arrive at Disney World, would he be courageous to get in the car? Our Heavenly Father is telling us, take my hand and I'll take you to Heaven! Taking a hold of His hand is not courage - it's Faith! Everything is different with faith.

"For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." (Philippians 1:21) One woman finished her missions training still not sure where she was meant to go. She prayed and agonized over her decision. Then she was diagnosed with stage IV cancer - and she was amused that God had already chosen the hospital and then hospice as her mission grounds. Because when you have faith in God, you believe what He tells you and you put your trust in Him. You live for Him while you are here and you trust Him to lead you home to your reward.

Of course, death wasn't the original plan, but Jesus won the victory for us with His death, burial and resurrection. (1 Corinthians 15: 54b, 55...57) - "Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is your victory? O Death, where is your sting?...but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Perhaps you think it would be easier to believe if someone would come back from heaven and tell you about it? But Someone already has! His name is Jesus Christ. He came from heaven and He told us all about it when He lived among us in the flesh. When He left, He made a promise. "Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also...I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me." (John 14: 1-3; 6). Like Scott, and so many others before me, I choose to believe it. My prayer is to live for Him here and live forever with Him there.